Disassembly of the XS / XS Max iPhones reveals few differences for the X

As it has become a tradition, the repair firm iFixit he traveled to the other side of the world to, before everyone else, get his hands on the new iPhones and take them apart first hand, revealing the secrets and mysteries of their interiors. Now, with iPhones XS / XS Max, the dose of discoveries is not the highest, but it also keeps its surprises.

The two devices are very similar internally and bear (as expected) high similarities with the iPhone X, but differ on a basic point: the drums. While the XS Max retains the double cell component, forming an “L” from two rectangles, the common XS innovates with a battery also in the shape of “L” but in one piece – something very rare to see, by the way.

IFixit disassembly of the new XS and XS Max iPhonesIf you look closely, you can see the notch in the inner corner of the XS battery.

The rarity is explained: battery manufacturers usually choose rectangular shapes because, in these components, the walls need to be sealed to prevent tension from thermal expansion; the fewer walls, then, the simpler the construction and the safer the battery. For the cell of the iPhone XS, Apple put in practice some patents registered a few years ago and places, right at the inner apex of the “L”, a kind of notch that has the purpose of reducing the thermal expansion tension; it is because of this notch that the XS battery has a slightly smaller capacity than the X.

Other parts of the dismantling followed without much news: iFixit’s impression is that the new iPhones have the same level of resistance to be opened compared to the iPhone X – that is, they are not devices designed to be easily disassembled, but with a little dedication and some tools this can be done at home.

Incidentally, it is interesting to note that, even though the XS / XS Max were the first with an IP68 water resistance certificate, the firm did not notice any differences in the construction of the devices or in the sealing applied to doors and openings – that is, perhaps the iPhone X already could stamp this differential, but Apple decided to leave the deeper tests for the following year. Maybe to have some extra news to announce this year?

Other interesting findings include minor differences in the iPhone XS Max: the vibration engine Taptic Engine is larger (which is natural, since it needs to cause movement at a higher volume) and the logic board extends a little further than that of the iPhones X / XS, with at least one component changing places – one of the connectors on the OLED panel moved to the bottom.

The new smartphones from Apple bring even more components designed there, in Cupertino. We have, in each of them, a new power management chip from Apple – code 338S00383-A0 (XS) and 338S00375-A1 (XS Max).

Overall, iFixit gave both devices a score of 6 (out of 10 possible points) in its repairability index, praising the relative ease of changing the screen and battery of the new iPhones, and the fact that the front panel can be changed keeping the Face ID components intact. The criticism, as usual, was for the use of glass surfaces in the front and rear and the fact that, if the back of the devices breaks, it will be necessary to basically replace all of its insides due to its construction.

That is, nothing new in the front.